Effective kinetic theory description of the magnetic field-induced anisotropic gluon pressure during pre-equilibrium in heavy-ion collisions
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We develop an effective kinetic description for the interaction of gluons and magnetic fields during the pre-equilibrium stage of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. For this purpose, we formulate the Boltzmann-Vlasov equation with the interaction term modeled by the effect of the magnetic field on the elements of an electrically charged and colored dipole originating from the quantum fluctuation of gluons into quark-antiquark pairs. We find the numerical solution of the collisionless Boltzmann-Vlasov equation with a time-dependent magnetic field profile to determine the time evolution of the directional pressures. The presence of the magnetic field tames the growth of the transverse to longitudinal pressure ratio compared with the case in the absence of the magnetic field; however, the system does not isotropize since collisions are not included. We study the cases of initial gluon distributions with longitudinal anisotropies, as well as the case of an initial isotropic gluon distribution. In both cases, we find that the magnetic field produces a non-monotonic early-time response for large values of the initial magnetic field strength.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia: Física Nuclear e Aplicações, Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
OpenAlex ID: W7212036821